Aurin knocked on the door of the waiting room, minutes before his next battle of the national championships was about to begin. “Yes?” came a voice from within.
The young tamer tepidly opened the door and spied Elton sitting on the leather sofa in front of the far wall. He looked shocked to see Aurin and Aurin couldn’t blame him.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. “You know we’re going out there any moment now, right?”
“I know,” said Aurin, approaching Elton. “I just wanted to wish you good luck.”
“Alright, thanks” said Elton dismissively, but Aurin continued to approach and stopped before him.
“I mean it,” he said. “We got off on the wrong foot before, and that was my own fault. Good luck out there and I hope it’s a battle we both remember.”
Aurin held out his hand and Elton stared at it for a moment before shaking it. “Likewise,” he said, unsure as to why Aurin had bothered coming here. “About the good luck and memorable battle, I mean. You had better hurry before they disqualify you.”
“That’s a good idea,” said Aurin, dashing from the room and through the corridors.
St Michael’s Stadium was at least five times the size of the Ludonia Stadium, so Aurin had to get a move on. It had been a last minute decision to approach Elton, yet Aurin was glad that he did. He suspected that Elton probably thought it was some sort of trick to get him to lower his guard, but it was not.
As Aurin rushed into his waiting room, Luna and Kyle sat in the stands with Aurin’s parents. Kyle was the only one who didn’t seem nervous, as even Edwin was restless for a change.
“I hope he’s doing alright in there,” he said to his wife, who was clutching his hand very tightly.
“He’s battling in front of thousands of people here and millions more at home,” said Alice. “I don’t know what’s going through my poor baby’s mind right now.”
“He’ll be fine,” said Kyle assuredly.
“I hope so,” said Luna. “He hasn’t been himself since the tournament began.
“He will be fine,” repeated Kyle, confident that his talk with Aurin yesterday had helped. He didn’t know what part of what he had said had helped, but Aurin’s demeanour had changed afterwards and it was obvious.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” began the announcer. “Let me welcome you all to the second match of the day. Please give a big hand to our two competitors, Aurin and Elton!”
Aurin walked out onto the field and faced Elton across the battlefield. Both tamers were resolute that this match would end in their victory. It was at a higher level, there was no doubt about that, but Aurin knew that he could do it. This was the match to prove himself in, not to the world, but to himself and his team.
“And begin!” called the announcer.
Aurin summoned Leonite to the field while Elton brought forth his Cryoth. The cobalt-blue lion roared as his light faded and the tiny blue moth—no bigger than a foot and a half in length—fluttered around, not taking its eyes off Leonite. It was no Arusom, but Aurin knew he should not underestimate it.
Leonite ran forwards to face it and it flew high into the air, beating its wings and conjuring a hailstorm. With Leonite’s vision obscured and being pelted with the small icy pellets, Cryoth flew down and blew a cold icy wind at him.
Not content to roll over and lose without a fight, Leonite dashed forwards and leapt into the air. The height of the jump took Cryofly by surprise and it tried to back away, but not before Leonite’s claw clipped its wing and sent it careening to the ground.
“Yes,” said Aurin, clenching his fists. “He’s not out of it yet, don’t let your guard down,” he warned.
Sure enough, Elton still looked determined. “Solidify!” he ordered his icy insect.
The Cryoth encased itself within a block of ice and began shooting a barrage of icicles at Leonite, who ducked and weaved to avoid them. It was well guarded and relentless in its attacks, but Aurin knew Leonite could break through the ice if he could reach it.
“Don’t go aerial, keep low,” Aurin ordered his Minakai.
Leonite complied and stayed low as he inched forward. The icicles began colliding with each other, creating a small barrier that Cryoth couldn’t see past. This was the opportunity, it had to be tired from using so much elemental energy.
“Now!” yelled Aurin.
Leonite sidestepped around the icicles and dashed full pelt at the block of ice. He rolled aside, avoiding the latest attack and slashed the block of ice with his razor-sharp claw, shattering it to pieces. The Cryoth tried to fly away with its injured wing, but Leonite sank his teeth into its body and threw it aside. It was too tired to recover, and Elton recalled it.
“Aurin has claimed an early lead!” called the announcer. “But if I know young Elton here, he’s got something else ready and waiting.”
“He’s right,” said Elton with a smile. He threw forward a ball of blue light from his glove and summoned his next Minakai.
An azure bird burst from the light. It flew upwards elegantly, its wings and tail feathers tipped with purple that shimmered as it spun in the air. As it twirled and soared, it seemed as though it emitted a faint rainbow trail behind it; Aurin wasn’t sure, perhaps a trick of the light.
“Rainbird, drown him!” ordered Elton, pointing directly at Leonite.
The lustrous bird beat the air with its wings, causing a huge tidal wave to rise up from the earth and sweep Leonite away. The large cat flapped his paws trying to stay afloat but was consumed by the raging water. As the water faded, the waterlogged Leonite stood up feeling heavy.
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“Keep it up,” said Elton.
His Rainbird dove towards Leonite, but as a claw came its way, it pulled upwards. As it soared high, a geyser burst from the ground and threw the lion into the air. Not one for relying solely on magic, the Rainbird burst towards Leonite and tore through his soaked fur with his talons and left a deep gash. Aurin’s Minakai fell back to the ground and collapsed in a heap.
“If you want an aerial battle, I’ll give it to you,” said Aurin, readying his tamer glove. “Take to the skies, Skrow.”
Aurin’s Skrow soared upwards to meet Elton’s Rainbird. The two birds clashed in a battle of sharp beaks and razor claws, scratching, and tearing at each other. Aurin knew what to do, he just needed to wait for the right moment, but Elton was keen-eyed enough to know that Aurin was just hoping for an elemental attack to begin before turning the tide back on Rainbird.
“You’re stronger than it,” said Elton to his Minakai. “Do not use your magic.”
Aurin knew he needed to find a way to bait Elton into attacking with water first so that Rainbird’s guard was lowered…or would something else work. A new plan came to him suddenly, it was just a matter of communicating it to Skrow without giving it away; a loyal Minakai like Skrow may not need to know the plan if he knew to trust in his tamer.
“Skrow, lightning strike!” ordered Aurin. “Zap him out of the air.”
“What?” said a confused Luna to Kyle. “Skrow can’t perform a lightning strike.”
“He’s certainly trying,” said Kyle, pointing at Aurin’s Minakai.
Skrow had backed away from Rainbird and focused as though he was a Wunder. Elton didn’t believe what he was seeing as Skrow’s eyes glowed yellow with elemental energy. “Stop him! Water jet!” he ordered.
It had worked. “Wind charge!” Aurin yelled immediately.
Skrow stopped his fake attack and dived out of the way of the water coming his way and conjured up a mighty wind that threw him at his opponent. Too focused on recovering from its water jet, Rainbird’s wing took a nasty cut from Skrow’s beat. It faltered in the air and Skrow circled round for a second attack. Then a third, then a fourth before finishing the round with a fifth. Rainbird plummeted to the ground and hit the dirt.
“I thought he had lost his mind,” said Luna.
“Nothing makes an opponent panic in a Minakai battle than something new,” said Kyle with a laugh. “Elton was tense enough to think that Skrow really could do a lightning strike…and I’m surprised Skrow gave such a good show of trying.”
Elton looked angry at having fallen for such a ludicrous tactic and he threw out his final Minakai. “I’m not going down that easily,” he told Aurin as his Sproufloat appeared in the air.
“Elton’s Sproufloat has a tough job ahead,” said the announcer. “Can it give his tamer a second wind and bring home the victory against two Minakai?”
Skrow suddenly rolled over in the air as Sproufloat charged towards him. Aurin was taken aback once he realised that Skrow wasn’t dodging, he had been swept aside by a change in the wind. Sproufloat sank its claws into Skrow’s back and threw Skrow to the ground.
“Quick, get out of the way!” called Aurin, but Skrow was unable to do so.
Elton’s Sproufloat had curled itself into a ball and the leaf on its head became a spinning razorblade. It crashed into Skrow, hurting him badly. He fell down and was unable to take to the skies anymore. Almost as quickly as the bird-like plant had appeared, it had finished off its opponent. The small Minakai was not to be underestimated.
“What was that?” exclaimed Alice.
Her husband nodded slowly. “That’s a tough little fella, that’s for sure.”
Luna however looked at Kyle once more. “You know Sproufloat better than almost anyone. Is it particularly powerful?”
“No,” said Kyle. “Elton’s one appears to be exceptionally well trained. It’s very fast and aggressive, whereas a typical Sproufloat would be a bit more timid in its approach. It’ll be interesting to see how Aurin counters.”
“Shamtile!” called Aurin, summoning his favourite Minakai to the battlefield.
The masked lizard rain in on all fours and leapt into the sky, boosted by a pillar of earth he conjured beneath himself. He waved his hands as he fell and barraged the Sproufloat with rocks. The little plant sliced the first couple into pieces with its wings before flying upwards.
“Stay airborne,” ordered Elton, confident he could win if he kept a cool head.
“You’ve got this, Shamtile,” muttered Aurin. “We’re so close. There won’t be any bad orders to ignore.”
As Shamtile hurled boulders and rock spears at his nimble opponent, he was met with his own attacks being turned around on him, forcing him to dive out of the way and hurriedly burrow underground to escape. Each time he burrowed, he was met with a sharp wind as though Sproufloat could predict where he was going to burst from. He needed Aurin’s guidance.
“We need to bring him down to earth,” said Aurin. “Encapsulate!”
Shamtile waved his arms and summoned rocks around Sproufloat. He clapped his hands together and they darted in close, to form a rock cage, but Elton’s Minakai moved out of the way in the nick of time. A close attack had little momentum and Sproufloat was too quick for that.
“I can’t use rock armour, Shamtile needs speed right now,” Aurin said to himself, thinking through his options as quickly as he could. “Unless the weight of that could…got it! Bring the earth to it.”
Elton scoffed as though Aurin had ordered the whole world be moved, but Shamtile only needed a little part of it. He focused and danced frantically, dodging the winds as he did so. The middle of the battlefield rose up as a giant pillar, coming to meet Sproufloat.
“Unbelievable!” cried the announcer as the crowd stared in awe. Not even Aurin and his Shamtile realised just quite how impressive a feat they had just pulled off.
Elton’s Minakai flew in place, dumbfounded, but it should have flown upwards and out of the way. Shamtile leapt onto it, taking a few cuts from its beating wings and sharp forehead leaf as it struggled to free himself.
“Encapsulate!” ordered Aurin.
Shamtile used rings of rocks to bind the Sproufloat’s wings and it dropped onto the giant pillar. Elton could barely see what was happening, unable to see the top of the pillar. Aurin could not see it either, but he knew exactly what to do even without line of sight.
“Bury him,” he ordered.
The pillar sank back to the ground, except for one miniscule section where Shamtile remained standing on one leg. Sproufloat fell to the now-normal-again battlefield, but before it hit the ground, a large hole opened up and he was sank like a golf ball. The ground covered him up and he had no way to escape.
“Finish it,” said Aurin, knowing he had now won the battle.
Shamtile shook his hands one last time and the spot where Sproufloat had fallen rumbled heavily with isolated tremors that beat it senseless somewhere out of sight. The hole opened up and spat the limp Sproufloat back out, unable to fight on.
The crowd roared with applause as Shamtile’s little pillar retracted and he bounced over to his tamer for a pat on the head. The Minakai screeched at his tamer who smiled at him and threw him onto his shoulder.
“I think we’re on the upswing again, mate,” said Aurin with a chuckle. “You didn’t have to disobey me.”
Aurin walked to the centre of the battlefield and met Elton, who held out a hand. Aurin shook it. “That was a great battle, Elton. Your Minakai are powerful.”
“Likewise,” said Elton. “I can’t believe I bought that you were going cross-element with your Skrow.”
“I felt silly ordering it, but I have to say I’m glad it worked,” said Aurin. “If you don’t mind me asking, how come you haven’t evolved your Sproufloat?”
“I have evolved him once,” remarked Elton. “Why haven’t you evolved your Shamtile?”
“That’s fair.”
“I suppose this is where we part ways. Good luck for the rest of the tournament. Perhaps, we’ll battle again one day?”
“I would like that very much.”
With that, the two tamers walked back to their own tunnels to the cheers of the crowd. Aurin felt as though he was on top of the world once again. His head was clear and the next target in his sites was Gardner. Once he was out of the way, he would make sure that he would do whatever it took to defeat Hunter.